RinoZ
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Chapter 621 - Blissful Danger
🕑 Added 2020-09-26 08:47:02 +0000 UTCSorry this one was late.
"LEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOOOY!"
What a day! WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY! The Immortals unleashed their war cry, the name of their great leader as they charge toward what would surely be their own useful deaths! The golgari formed a fortress before them, their combined shields creating a wall of golden light that the ants just couldn't wait to run into.
"No!" roared Leeroy as she battered aside one of her subordinates with a vicious shoulder check. "I will be the one to die!"
The soldier watched the powerful arc of sword light descend on her as if it moved in slow motion. Perhaps this would be her chance, maybe this was her moment! The armour was an extension of her own body. She felt it, as the beam of condenced energy crunched into the steel, cutting deep rents in the folded metal and sending shockwaves of pressure through her carapace. There was pain, she was scarred, but she did not find oblivion. A dissapointment.
"THE SEARCH GOES ON, SISTERS!"
"WE SEEK!"
The Immortals charged with renewed vigour, the mighty enemy arrayed before them igniting a flame in their hearts and cores that burned like a sun.
"You lot are weird," muttered a small voice.
Clung underneath Leeroy, her claws dug into special grooves cut for purpose and her head protected behind a curve of folded steel, the healer had to wonder who had thought it was good idea to send these crazed siblings into battle.
Leeroy cared nothing for the opinion of others. She cared only for this moment, this charge and this enemy. The wall loomed before them, the golgari stood firm against their massed charge, confident in the strength of their defence. She hoped they were right.
Closer. Closer! CLOSER!
Tons of metal encased ant continued to endure the blows that rained down on them as they closed with the enemy, the rest of the Colony's attack force following close behind. At the last possible moment, Leeroy synched her three pairs of legs, ready to unleash the new technique she had discovered.
DASH! DASH! DASH!
Firing each pair of legs just off time with each other, the Immortals push their thin ant legs to the breaking point. The heavily armoured insects time their charge perfectly, crashing home into the golden shield line like a wave of steel.
Please! Leeroy hoped.
Nope! The medic declared, releasing her grip and dropping to the ground along with her sisters who appeared from under the other armoured figures. Once on the ground they turned their mandibles to the dirt, burrowing down as the rest of the attack wave flowed over their backs.
Leeroy turned her body and felt her carapace crunch into the golgari defence. A test of the hardest the Colony could produce and the shield wall of the golgari. Despite her pounding heart and screaming soul, it was the shield that broke first, the enormous shield of energy cracked, then shattered under the combined weight of the Immortals.
Carried forward by her momentum, Leeroy smashed into the golgari themselves, splintering shields and stumbling to the ground, her legs giving way beneath her. The Colony swarmed forward over her back as the soldier took a moment to check her body and collect her thoughts.
She was injured. The impact against the shield had crumpled her amour and a web of stress fractures had appeared on her carapace. Yet, she lived. Still, she lived. Her body protested as she forced her legs to the ground and pushed herself up, regenerative fluid already sloshing through her body. The pain was intense, but she ignored it, hope igniting within her once more. The battle still continued, after all.
"THE SEARCH GOES ON, SISTERS!"
The battered Immortals responded in chorus.
"WE SEEK!"
Advant, directing the fight from close to the front could only twitch her antennae, a mix of irritation and bemusement rising inside her. At first it seemed like a good idea to take those soldiers who, like Leeroy, struggled with the concept of valuing their own lives and put them together with Leeroy in the Immortals. Armoured to the utmost limit of the Colony's skills, they were the hardest to kill of any soldier after all. Instead, Leeroy had turned their lack of care into a fanatical desire for a glorious death.
When the Eldest got back, they weren't going to be pleased.
She shook of the stray thoughts. The battle raged around her and she had a job to do. The golgari were surrounded on three sides, the Colony closing into melee on every front. It had been a deliberate decision not to surround them completely, they still weren't sure of the fighting strength the golgari possessed and it had been deemed wise not to find out when they were given no escape.
Advant climbed a nearby rock in to better see the conflict. The ants pressed hard, the barrage of acid and magic never ending. Though their front shield was destroyed, there must be mages maintaining the barriers on the flanks, since the acid barrage isn't getting through. The ants are though. From her elevated position, she could see soldiers pressing forward and engaging the enemy with their mandibles.
Details were hard to make out, smoke and steam had begun to fill the tunnel, but the fighting must have been fierce. She could see healers working hard, dragging injured ants out of the conflict, risking their lives to fetch their wounded siblings back to the pits they'd prepared. With that tiny bit of cover, they set about administering what treatment they could. From behind, Advant could see reinforcements still pouring from the fort behind her, the ants crawling over each other and every surface of the tunnel in order to close with their opponents.
The Colony had committed five thousand ants to this battle, the first real test against the golgari. Not a number that could contend with the full force brought against them, but enough take a fight if it presented itself. When the enemy had dared to advance with only a small portion of their numbers against them, Advant and her siblings had decided they had no choice but to commit.
The main battle ground was a heaving mess in her eyes, the small details of the conflict were completely lost in the crush. But that wasn't what she was looking for. All of her senses strained to their utmost as she focused, trying to see the overall picture of the battlefield. The golgari were shocked by the charge of the Immortals, but they were holding their formation. The ants increased the pressure, gripping their enemy in the mandibles formed by their three pronged assault, and slowly the golgari began to pull back. A fighting retreat.
Advant watched, tense as a bowstring, for thirty minutes as the fighting raged until finally there was a response from the golgari camp. Massed ranks began to appear, lead by figures in gleaming armour in the distance. It was time to sound the retreat.
"PULL BACK!" She roared, her pheromones flooding the area around her.
In moments her message had been relayed, blowing away the other scents in the tunnel as every ant passed it on. In an instant, the seething mass of insects that had pressed the golgari from all sides broke away and ran, carrying their wounded with them as they went. The acid and magic barrage continued as the soldiers retreated, until that too was over and the ants vanished into their hidden tunnels.
In ten seconds, what had moments ago been a raging battle was eerily silent. Advant watched their enemy closely. The golgari appeared confused, several wanting to press forward to take advantage of the open field, others pulling back and yet more milling about in confusion. After observing for a few long moments, she too made her withdrawal, the first major battle of the conflict complete. There would be much to discuss and analyse, no doubt the generals would have much to say. For the moment, the enemy advance had been halted.
A victory for the Colony.
Comments
General Use Only
All hail the Church of Leeroy! All hail the Immortals! We seek!
tunder999
I never thought the healers would become land torpedoes as well. (At least thats what my brain envisioned when they were deployed)
Pastor Joubert
Never let the immortals interact with the hatchlings lol.
Charles Mayet
I think the immortals are my favorite group of ants in the colony
Milton Skipper
woot Immortals.....
Tyrunex
Maybe there will come a special evolution, where the ant fuses with its armor. Then Leeroy would turn into some gigantic juggernaut class ant
Priestslayer
Never thought I would see the colony use armored heavy cavalry charges. Leeroy is clearly an innovative thinker and needs to be protected so she can share her wisdom to the younger generations.... forever. ( I am now envisioning a set of armor with healing runes when she goes up a tier or as the first set produced by a proud mage-smith)
Nikita
Loved it. The immortals and Leeroy definitely became the mascot of the novel. And attaching healers to the armor/carapace is a genius move. Given some development, it's possible to transform the armored ants into fortresses. Moving fortresses.
Oranckers
I love how the inhuman instincts and thought processes of the ants has shaped their culture, from having a need for a police force with the sole mandate of making sure everyone gets enough rest, to the birth of an ant death cult for those whose need to die for the colony overpowered them.
Grant
That has to be demoralizing for the human side. What is funny is that Leroy will probably scare off most of the enemies since they might assume all of the ants share that zeal for death. So all of the immortals desire a death in battle, hilarious. Poor Leroy, she is so going to get a thumping from the eldest again.
Reiner Fox
Absolutely loved the Immortals Nothing better than a unit of death seeking battle hungry armor plated soldiers!
Rak87
If Leroy knew that RinoZ will probably never let her find what she seeks. I'm willing to bet the entire Colony will die before Leroy
Second x)
Apollo that sun person
Incredible chapter; the writing was so well-done for the Immortals’ first deployment. I’ve often seen suicidal fanatics in works of fiction, but never were they capable of thinking somewhat “normally”; which in my opinion makes this chapter deserving of praise for being able to keep the Immortals thoughts understandable and the right amount of obsessive instead of incoherent or just overly obsessive
Anthony Romanov
We seek! That was awesome. Leroy has her own followers which would push their comrade to receive that one attack. Truly insane and glorious!
Drew Lim
First
